Tête Blanche is on the France/Switzerland border, 3429 meters (11250 ft) in elevation. Together with the nearby mountain called Petite Fourche, they form a good training ground for wannabe Alpinists.

We actually planned to climb Petite Fourche. But just when we are about to climb it, a guy called Paul from England says he is afraid of height. So our mountain guide aborts the climb and takes us to Tête Blanche instead ... an easier climb.

(Paul is weird ... if he is afraid of height, why did he pay up to climb Mont Blanc? Because on the way to Mont Blanc, he won't be able to handle the steep and scary climb from Tête Rousse Refuge to Goûter Refuge.

As fate would have it, late on the second day, he injures his knee and withdraws from the Mont Blanc climb. Just as well, as he definitely won't be able to handle the steep climb there.)

Route

Day 1:
- Pierre, the mountain guide drives us from Chamonix to Le Tour.
- From Le Tour, take aerial cablecar to Charamillon.
- Walk to Refuge Albert 1er (including a detour to Glacier Du Tour for crampon practice).

Day 2:
- From Refuge Albert 1er, walk to the base of Petite Fourche.
- Due to Paul's acrophobia, we go and climb Tête Blanche instead.
- Return to Refuge Albert 1er to pick up our gears.
- Retrace first day's steps back to Charamillon.
- Take aerial cable car to Le Tour.
- Pierre drives us back to Chamonix.

2) Me with my bright rain pants - guaranteed to be noticed if lost in a snow storm :-)

3) On the aerial cablecar to Charamillon, looking back at Le Tour

4) Charamillon station - this is where we get off the cable car and start walking towards Refuge Albert 1er.

5) Looking back at Charamillon station ~~~
Above Charamillon is Massif des Aiguilles Rouges.
The peak on the right edge of the photo is Aiguillette des Posettes.

6) Beautiful scenery on the way to Refuge Albert 1er ~~~
- At the centre of the below pic is Massif des Aiguilles Rouges (French for "Red Peaks"). The colour of the iron rich gneiss in these mountains gives the massif its name. Its highest summit is Aiguille du Belvédère, 2965 metres.
- On left edge of the photo and clad in snow is the Mont Blanc Massif.

9) Mont Blanc is at the centre of this photo. At 4810 meters, it is the highest mountain in the European Alps.

10) More beautiful scenery on the way to Refuge Albert 1er !
- The snow-capped mountain on the left is Mont Blanc, 4810 m.
- The mountain at the top right hand corner is Mont Buet, 3096 m.
- In between is the Massif des Aiguilles Rouges ... see also photo #6.
- Directly below the Massif are the small towns of Montroc and Le Tour. (Montroc is closer to the base of the Massif.)

11 Lenticular clouds over Mont Blanc ~~~
This is the first time I encounter this type of cloud ... very fortunate.
By the way, the top of Mont Blanc itself is also covered in another layer of the lenticular cloud.

15) Trail to Refuge Albert 1er ~~~
The top right hand corner is Glacier du Tour.

16) Glacier du Tour ~~~
- The mountain on the left is Aiguille du Chardonnet.
- The snow-clad mountain on the right is Aiguille Verte.

17) Glacier du Tour

18) Glacier du Tour ~~~
Instead of going directly on the trail to Refuge Albert 1er, we detour over the glacier to practice walking on crampons.

19) After crampon practice, we make a bee-line towards Refuge Albert 1er.

Arrive at Refuge Albert 1er

20) Glacier du Tour from Refuge Albert 1er

21) Waiting for dinner at the dining room of Refuge Albert 1er ~~~
From bottom left hand corner, clockwise around the table:
• Louis - 3 days later, only he and I make it to Mont Blanc summit.
• Pierre - our mountain guide
• Mark
• Quyen
• Paul from England
• Neil - a bit of his head only - bottom right hand corner

Day 2 - Climb Tête Blanche

22) We are up early in the morning and walk on Glacier du Tour. The direction we are heading is to the left of this photo. (Quyen is not joining us. The mountain guide says she is too slow.)

23) On Glacier du Tour ~~~ The big mountain in this photo is Aiguille du Tour.

24) Beautiful scenery!!!
The two snow-covered mountain are:
- Aiguille d'Argentière, the flat top mountain on the left
- Aiguille du Chardonnet, the bigger jagged one on the right

26) Petite Fourche and Grande Fourche ~~~
Petite Fourche is the mountain we are meant to climb today. However when we start to climb it, Paul from England confesses that he is afraid of height, so we abort the climb and head to the nearby Tête Blanche instead ... easier to climb than Petite Fourche.

Paul is weird ... if he is afraid of height, why did he pay up to climb Mont Blanc? Because on the way to Mont Blanc, he won't be able to handle the steep and scary climb from Tête Rousse Refuge to Goûter Refuge.

As fate would have it, late on the second day, he injures his knee and withdraws from the Mont Blanc climb. Just as well, as he definitely won't be able to handle the steep climb there.

27) Abandoning Petite Fourche, we go to Tête Blanche instead - which is the rocky mound in the middle of the pic.

28) Closer to Tête Blanche

29) We are at the base of Tête Blanche looking at Petite Fourche.

30) At the base of Tête Blanche looking at Aiguille du Chardonnet

31) Climbing up Tête Blanche ~~~ Its summit is in sight.

32) At the summit of Tête Blanche, 3429 m

33) At the summit looking at Aiguille du Tour ~~~
Unfortunately, the clouds roll in. Otherwise this scene would be very beautiful.

34) Panoramic view from the summit of Tête Blanche

Then it is back down Tête Blanche, back to Refuge Albert 1er to pick up our gears, and return to our hotel at Chamonix at around 2:30pm.